SUPER COMMITTEE PROFILES

BARBARA SHERMAN
Home town: Minneapolis, MN
Current city of residence: San Francisco

How long have you been a Super at San Francisco Opera?

Eight years.

In how many operas have you performed?
Three.

What was your favorite costume?
My favorite costume and Super role was as the lion in Magic Flute for Kids.

What is your most memorable opera moment?
Coming out as a lion, center stage, growling.

ROB WONDER
Home town: Berkeley, CA
Current city of residence: Alameda

How long have you been a Super at San Francisco Opera?
My first Super role was in the fall 2003 production of Don Carlos. I actually had two roles: one, the Black Cardinal, pre-set on the Island, and the other, one of four Red Cardinals.

In how many operas have you performed?
Four : Don Carlos, Traviata, La Forza del Destino, and Fidelio.

What was your favorite costume?
The Black Cardinal in Don Carlos.

What was your favorite Super role?
Being an elegant servant in Traviata, which had us interacting with chorus members and comprimarios.

What was your favorite prop?
The rifle with bayonet we soldiers used to herd the prisoners in Fidelio.

What is your most memorable opera moment?
The most memorable and stirring moment for me was to be a part of the procession for the auto-da-fé in Don Carlos. Another special moment was being three feet from Christine Brewer's singing in the prison scene in Fidelio.

LAUREL WINZLER
Home town: Bakersfield, CA
Current city of residence: San Francisco

How long have you been a Super at San Francisco Opera?
Since 1983.

In how many operas have you performed?
I can remember 44, without checking the archive.

What was your favorite costume?
Without a doubt-- Lulu ! The costume was designed by Bob Mackie, gorgeous in every detail - and a perfect fit. I got to wear it both times we did that production.
What was your favorite your favorite super role?
I have to go with War and Peace. I had a different role in each of the 2 acts and it was a blast! As a gypsy girl in Act I, I got to caress Yuri Marusin's boots and lick Phil Skinner's thumb, and in Act II I appeared in my undies and a pannier hoop skirt as a French actress fleeing Moscow (with Carolyn Waugh and Laura Claycomb). During the last performance, the prop crew put a stuffed parrot in my pannier (because it looked like a birdcage) and I went on stage with it!

What was your favorite prop?
My riding crop, as the lady-in-waiting to Mathilde in Guillaume Tell.

What is your most memorable opera moment?
When bad-boy Jose Cura tried to crack me up on stage in the Civic Auditorium Carmen.

WALT THORP
Home town: Sioux Falls, SD
Current city of residence: San Francisco

How long have you been a super at San Francisco Opera?
I started with SFO in 1997.

In how many operas have you performed?
Thus far, 18 productions.

What was your favorite costume?
I was Ruth Ann Swenson's Cousin Jack in The Ballad of Baby Doe. Our costumes were made to match.

What was your favorite role?
One of the two horses in Louise. Because Rene Fleming's daughters saw them in the costume shop and liked them so much, she asked that Kim Curtis (the other horse) and I come to her dressing room for photos to send back to New York.

What was your favorite prop?
The rifle that I shot twice in The Pearl Fishers. I got to shoot Zurga, the baritone, which ends the opera.

What is your most memorable opera moment?
Lucas Rebston and I were the two Supers on stage when Jane Eaglen sang the immolation scene in Götterdammerung. Despite the fact that I was sweating profusely in my rather heavy Teutonic costume, I got goose bumps when she belted out her final aria.

KIMBERLY THOMPSON
Home town: Los Altos, CA
Current city of residence: Los Altos, back home again keeping a eye on my 86-year-old mother.

How long have you been a super at San Francisco Opera?
Since 1988.

In how many operas have you performed?
Over 30.

What was your favorite costume?
Regrettably, the one I never got to wear on stage, when I was the alternate for the three 12-year-old water sprites in Rusalka. They were sequined body suits, knee-length blond wigs, and beautiful make up. But those darned girls never missed a single performance.

What was your favorite role?
Deborah Voight's Dresser in Ariadne. Lots of action and a "saved the day" moment when they threw bouquets to the ladies at curtain calls, but because of the stage-within-a-stage set, the flowers fell short of the on-stage platform. I cut out of our lineup, ran to the edge of the stage and passed Ms. Voight her flowers, curtsied and went back to the line, maintaining my character. Got a laugh and an extra hand. Covering for stage mishaps is one of my favorite Super duties.

What was your favorite prop?
The fish head that I wore as the Hansel and Gretel Maitre d'. It was also a great role. As an aside, the shoes they bought me to go with the outfit are in the "Wall of Fame" at the Costume Shop (a wall of boxes of shoes worn by stars who are regulars at SFO). Mine were right there next to ones worn by Fredrica Von Stade and Carol Vaness!

What is your most memorable opera moment?
Hard to decide. So many dear and unsolicited interactions with Opera's singing treasures. One that stands out was when I was the dead King in Parsifal. While I spent 45 minutes in the crypt, great pealing gongs sounded, and the way the sound moved around the space, it was like being in the bottom of the Great Heart of Opera and hearing the blood rush from chamber to chamber! WOW! Then I was hauled out, dragged around and dumped on Hans Grunheber. When he dumped me off, it was always a toss-up as to where I would land. One night the curtain came down and I was downstage of it! Oops, what is a dead body to do?

KATIE HEIBEIN
Home town: Buffalo, NY, aka the snow capital of the east coast
Current city of residence: Menlo Park

How long have you been a super at San Francisco Opera?
I’m a real newcomer. I just started last fall in Dr. Atomic.

In how many operas have you performed?
I’ve been in three.

What was your favorite costume?
The Salamander in Flute for Kids.

What was your favorite role?
One of the Korogo in Madama Butterfly.

What was your favorite prop?
The flowers in Butterfly with which had to decorate the posts. I could barely see the holes and had to use the Braile method.

What is your most memorable opera moment?
Being onstage in Butterfly when Patricia Racette committed suicide. The tragic scene and music just took my breath away.

PAUL SZCZESIUL
Home town: Derby, CT
Current city of residence: Pleasant Hill

How long have you been a super at San Francisco Opera?
I’m starting my sixth season.

In how many operas have you performed?
I’ve been in 12 SFO productions. I’ve also supered in three Festival Opera (Walnut Creek), with the Stuttgart Ballet, and the Paris Opera Ballet.

What was your favorite costume?
One of the executioner’s assistants in Turandot. We were covered head to toe in chocolate brown body paint and wore a black loincloth.

What was your favorite role?
One of the sbirri (agents) in Tosca. We got to work with tenor Anthony Laciura (the “clown prince of opera”) as Spoletta.

What was your favorite prop?
The severed head of Pompey in Giulio Cesare.

What is your most memorable opera moment?
Having to hold countertenor David Daniels by the throat in Rodelinda. During the first rehearsal he leaned over and whispered, “hurt me, and you’re dead.”

ANDREW KORNIEJ
Home town; Sheffield, Yorkshire England
Current city of residence: San Francisco since 1982

How long have you been a super at San Francisco Opera?
I started with Aida in the fall of 1989.

In how many operas have you performed?
About 30.

What was your favorite costume?
Basic Black Popolo in the David Hockney Turandot.

What was your favorite role?
The Maitre d' of the Cafe Momus in La Bohème in 2004.

What was your favorite prop?
Brannas' Sword, which I carried on during the Guerra, Guerra chorus of Norma in 1998.

What is your most memorable opera moment?
All of Dr. Atomic; the Vishnu Chorus in particular.